Venus Williams Hobbles Off, Then Roars Back

Venus Williams defeated Sandra Zahlavova of Czech Republic in the second-round of the Australian Open.Credit
Mark Baker/Associated Press

MELBOURNE, Australia — It could have been another day at the Australian Open of frivolous themes, with the focus on Venus Williams’s latest risqué tennis dress. But then Williams screamed in pain as she lost the last point of the first set, limped to her chair and hobbled off the court for treatment.

It was hardly out of line to wonder whether she would return. Her plucky second-round opponent, Sandra Zahlavova, was up a set and looked eager to run (and grunt) for hours more.

But Williams, after 17 years as a professional, has yet to retire from a Grand Slam singles match, and when she finally re-emerged from the tunnel leading to Rod Laver Arena with tape wrapped tightly around her upper right leg, her usual impassive expression was gone, replaced by a grim look that her mother and coach, Oracene Price, said she knew well.

“She had the no-lose look, the I’m-definitely-not-losing look,” Price said, shaking her head. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen that one, but when I saw it, I quietly knew what was going to happen.”

Making it happen would require plenty more time and grinding effort, but with Zahlavova looking disoriented and ultimately distraught, Williams painstakingly turned the match around, winning the final two sets despite obvious limitations to close out a strange-but-true 6-7 (8), 6-0, 6-4 victory. How a healthy Williams lost the first set in a tie breaker and a hurting Williams won the second without dropping a game was certainly the strangest part.

“It was really tough, but I’m a long way from home, and it’s such a long way home; I didn’t want to go back yet,” Williams, the No. 4 seed, said on court. “I don’t know what happened. I just started going for shots, and I’m not sure she was as composed as before. You’ve got to be able to play under all kinds of circumstances — good, bad, strange, weird, bizarre, all of the above. So I was glad to come through.”

Her delight may be tempered by the knowledge that her chances of going deep in this Grand Slam tournament are now compromised. The problem, according to Williams, is a hip flexor strain, specifically in the right psoas muscle, a major muscle that runs from the lower spine to the hip.

“I’m going just to try to recover for Friday and try to get ready to play and bring my best tennis no matter what,” said Williams, who will play Andrea Petkovic, an irrepressible German with an offbeat sense of humor who seems to have succeeded, for now, in approaching the grind of the women’s tour with the enthusiasm of an exchange student. She has even developed her own victory dance.

But Petkovic has injury problems, too. She twisted her left ankle early Wednesday against Anne Keothavong and required treatment before prevailing. Like Williams, Petkovic clearly can play through pain, but Petkovic was just as impressed by the gumption Williams showed by walking on court in her latest sartorial creation: a bright yellow latticework top that provided plenty of air flow to her midriff, along with a patterned miniskirt and flesh-colored underwear. Williams said the outfit was inspired by “Alice in Wonderland.”

“I really admire her for her courage to go out with a dress like this,” Petkovic told German reporters. “I would never do that because everybody would say I was crazy, but Venus can do it, and I admire her for that. Tennis is show business.”

If so, Williams, a former No. 1 who is now 30 years old, has missed quite a few shows. Injuries have long cut into her playing time. Because of continuing knee problems, she arrived here without having played an official match since the United States Open semifinals in September.

She appeared to be struggling for breath at times in Wednesday’s grueling first set, which was brimming with rallies punctuated by loud shrieks from both players, prompting the British star Andy Murray to send a Twitter message after watching on television, “Turned it on and thought someone was giving birth.”

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But there was no comic element to the last point of the tie breaker. Williams stretched high for a backhand, then reached down to grab at her lower abdominal area. She was unable to give chase as Zahlavova slapped a forehand winner to close out the set.

Grimacing and seemingly near tears, Williams took plenty of time to reach her chair, calling for the trainer along the way, then left the court for more than 10 minutes to be evaluated and treated before returning to play on in a tournament that she — unlike her younger sister, Serena — has never won.

“I think this being a major definitely has a lot to do with me staying on the court,” Williams said. “I really haven’t retired from a match in any tournament in quite a long time. I think that’s a testament to how I feel when I step on the court. I’m there to stay.”

Williams has risked further injury before, playing and losing in the 2003 Wimbledon final against Serena after aggravating a strained abdominal muscle in the semifinals.

“It’s been a long time, so I don’t remember that pain anymore,” Williams said. “In recent time that I can remember pain, I think this was one of the toughest ones for sure. But I just wanted to stay on the court and try to survive and see if I could feel better another day.”

It has been, thus far, a frustrating tournament for the underdog. All of the 16 top-seeded players in the men’s and women’s brackets advanced to the second round.

Williams certainly looked vulnerable early in the second set as she moved in a gingerly fashion along the baseline and did not bother to run down some of Zahlavova’s shots. Despite that obvious advantage, Zahlavova, a Czech ranked 97th, could not win a game. She made unforced errors in bunches and kept the ball to Williams’s forehand when the backhand was obviously the more difficult shot for Williams to swing through.

“It was not so good for me because I start thinking, ‘Can I win or can I lose?’ ” Zahlavova said.

If Williams had lost, the United States would have been without a women’s representative in the third round. Serena Williams, last year’s champion, did not make the trip to defend her title because she was recovering from foot surgery, which also means that Venus will not get the chance to defend the doubles title she won with her sister in 2010.

But in light of the painful developments Wednesday, perhaps it is best that Venus has to worry only about the singles in Melbourne. Meanwhile, the tennis world has to worry about her next outfit.

A version of this article appears in print on January 20, 2011, on Page B30 of the New York edition with the headline: Venus Williams Hobbles Off, Then Roars Back. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe